The Southern Sorority of Superstitious Witches

In this spellbinding Southern Gothic novel, three women weave together old Southern folklore and magic to fight sexism and educational discrimination in post-Civil War Alabama, perfect for fans of Hester Fox and Louisa Morgan.

 

When Lucille, Catherine, and Victoria are invited to participate in a trial semester for women at Alabama’s most prestigious university, they each have their own reasons for accepting. Lucille wants freedom from her father’s control and the reminders of her traitorous first love. Catherine wants to escape an arranged marriage meant to halt her attraction to women. And Victoria wants to run from the guilt that haunts her after the death of one of her fellow mill girls.

 

The trial semester will determine whether or not women across the state will be allowed to attend other universities. But the enrolled women quickly learn that success is not guaranteed, and some of their male cohorts are determined to see them fail. When the men’s pranks go too far, Lucille, Catherine, and Victoria form a coven under the guise of a sorority and call upon witchcraft steeped in the traditions of southern folklore to fight back.

 

As they gather their fellow witches, they discover there is something darker at work at the university, a force that is determined to expel all the women at the university, and they’ll need all the allies they can get if they want to succeed.

 

For fans of Witchcraft for Wayward Girls and Weyward, this historical speculative novel explores the darker side of human nature and the ways in which women navigate—and survive—oppressive, male-dominated societies.

Additional information

Genre

Book Club, Historical Fiction, LGBTQ+, Speculative

Age

New Adult

Publisher

Independent

Imprint

Alcove Press

Format(s)

Audiobook, eBook, Hardcover, Trade paperback

Author

Katie Ortiz

Release Date

6-Oct-26

Release Month

October Releases

Content Rep

Disability, LGBTQIA+, Mental Health

About the Author

Katie Ortiz is a writer, teacher, wife, feminist, and cat mom from Alabama. She’s a member of the Alabama Historical Association and writes accessible historical fiction with a speculative twist. Her writing often explores the darker sides of human nature and the ways in which women navigate and survive in oppressive, male-dominated societies. She attended the 2023, 2024, and 2025 Alabama Writing Day Workshops and the 2023 Atlanta Writers Conference. When she’s not writing at her favorite local coffee shop, she fights for the right to education every day as a public school teacher, reads witchy books, or takes her cat on walks.

 

Katie is represented by Alexandra D’Amico at The Rights Factory

 

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